Housing is going to propel the economic recovery, or so many experts have said. Some of them are warning, however, that the enthusiasm should be curbed despite all the upbeat data recently.
Robert Shiller, Karl Case and David Blitzer -- leading experts in the housing market -- believe several headwinds will keep a lid on housing gains, such as a low level of new home starts, an unexpectedly slow migration of so-called shadow inventory onto the market, and difficulty for buyers to secure financing.
Those who keep close track of the ins and outs of the housing market know the names of Case and Shiller for the monthly home price index they release along with Standard & Poor's. Their most recent report showed a 9.3 percent price gain.
Blitzer is managing director of S&P's Index Committee and helps analyze the data as it comes through.
They spoke this week at a roundtable discussion with select media regarding their views of the housing market. Many Wall Street economists have cited the industry as the linchpin for economic recovery expectations.
And on Thursday, the Commerce Department showed sales of new homes rose in April to the second highest level since the summer of 2008 while the median price for a new home hit a record high. New home sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 454,000 in April, up 2.3 percent from March and just below January's 458,000. Both January and April had the fastest sales rates since July 2008
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